Product Description
Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia, is a breathtaking setting for tedious fire presuppression duty. But Anna’s boring routine is shattered when two men die in a plane crash, victims of sabotage.

Amazon.com Review
As her legions of loyal readers know, Nevada Barr is not a stripper nor a Las Vegas lawyer; she's a former actress and National Park Service ranger who writes excellent mysteries set in the wilderness. Her alter ego, ranger Anna Pigeon, is once again called upon to be mentally and physically astute--this time on Cumberland Island, off the Georgia coast, where the ghosts of the millionaires who used to live there are being added to by a determined killer. As usual, Barr is best at creating believable scenes of action in a setting that is beautifully detailed but never romanticized. Past Barr books in paperback: Firestorm, Ill Wind, A Superior Death, Track of the Cat.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 50 reviews)

Amateur Sleuth Goes Above and Beyond by Debra Purdy Kong (Port Moody, BC)

3 Stars
October 10, 2009
A fire watch assignment on hot and humid Cumberland Island isn't too exciting for park ranger Anna Pigeon until a twin-engine Beechcraft crashes, killing two people inside. When investigators determine the Beechcraft was sabotaged, Anna's curiosity prompts her to do a little snooping. But snooping on this quiet little island becomes dangerous, although not dangerous enough to stop Anna. And this is the problem I had with Endangered Species. Because there's no emotional stake in the outcome for Anna, why is she investigating at all except to relieve boredom and quench her curiosity?. She's been warned off by both her supervisor and a mysterious stranger who ends up striking her on the head with the butt of a rifle. You'd think that'd be enough of a hint to stop most people, but not Anna. On the other hand, if she stopped investigating, there wouldn't be a mystery, so what can I say? The thing is, I liked the basic plot because it's a true whodunit. Here's a group of people with secrets and tumultuous relationships, stuck on a small island. Nevada Barr's detailed narrative descriptions made the island intriguing. I also enjoyed the subplot involving a death threat to Anna's sister Molly. Molly's life as a New York psychotherapist is a terrific contrast to Anna's world. While some secondary characters are more interesting than others, this book should have a lot of appeal to those who love whodunits set in parks all across the U.S . . . and Anna Pigeon fans, of course.

Endangered Park Personnel by Stoney (Miami, FL)

5 Stars
September 21, 2009
THE SETUP "Endangered Species", set on Cumberland Island, Georgia, opens with Park Ranger Anna Pigeon (usually a Park Policeman, but this time working on a fire-suppression crew) helping to gather eggs from a loggerhead seaturtle, as they are being laid. Soon thereafter, a small plane, piloted by Slatery Hammond (a somewhat shady character), carrying Tod Balfour (the District Ranger) as a passenger, crashes, having been sabotaged. Both were previously the sole law enforcement officers in a district of Cascade National Park. Tod's beautiful young wife (who has been harrassed by Slatery) is near-term pregnant. The same day, a young Austrian tourist is shot in the leg while hiking overland. Things snowball from there. Among other notable characters: Mich Hanson (a maintenance man) and his wife Louise, seem to have excess time on their hands. Marty Slesinger is an eccentric slobbish doper marine biologist. In the meantime, a completely independent side-story, of interest only to fans reading the series in order: Anna's sister, Molly (a NYC psychologist) has received death threats, and Anna asks her (FBI agent) boyfriend Frederick Stanton to look into it. COMMENTS The plot develops slowly, but that's okay. Barr creates a vivid compelling setting in exceptional clarity, detail, and accuracy. The setting (a subtropical coastal seaisland) will be unfamiliar and alien to most readers, but fascinating. The plot isn't the usual collection of evidence toward a sudden satisfying revelation of "who did it". Rather, the plot is mostly less-satisfying slow revelations of relative culpability and related but independent criminal and immoral activities, revealed in layers, like pealing an onion. This gets a little long for my tastes--I would have preferred fewer characters and fewer complications. In this story Anna is a bit irrationally "gung-ho". I especially appreciate Barr's depictions of NPS employees violating NPS regulations by feeding wildlife, and even keeping wild animals as pets. Okay, I understand the justifications, and generally approve. Don't feed the bears. Yet in my opinion, feeding a family of racoons at picnic ground (for example), or nursing a squirrel back to health, cements a child's love of wildlife (and later devotion to preservation of nature) stronger than any other experience. Indirectly, Barr also unveils the illusion (rigorously promoted by NPS) that the Parks are pristine, or must be "made pristine". Truly pristine wilderness is virtually non-existant, but nature can "reclaim" even extremely disturbed areas without assistance within a few decades. Nature works best left alone---the NPS itself has caused much damage to the Parks on misguided theories of "management". I understand that in the original hardcover version, Marty was a woman. The gender change in subsequent editions was undoubtably a great improvement. Barr's greatest strength is that the appeal of her novels is gender neutral. As a crusty 60-year-old guy, Barr is one of the few female authors I read. Without getting into an elaborate explanation, a female Marty would have seeemed implausible or at least unseemly to male readers. Many of the themes, pregnancy, loss of a woman's "man", sexual harrassment, excessive concern about insects, etc. are already heavily female---not a problem per se, but with a female Marty, the novel would have been unbalanced and much less appealing to male readers. Note to the author: One technical annoyance are excessively abrupt change of scenes, which are particularly disconcerting when listening to the audio version (in my case, audio-CDs). Several times, I found myself going back to check if a tract was missing or defective. This is not a trivial concern. At least several years ago 75% of the "e-audiobooks" I heard had missing tracts, or large sections were out-of-order. For American readers, a "budgie" (aka "budgerigar") is British English for what we call a "common parakeet". VERDICT Despite the minor caveats above, this is my third reading of "Endangered Species" (at intervals of several years), and it only gets better with additional re-readings. I consider that high praise.

One of the Better Anna Pigeon Stories by Julie C. Gilbert (NJ United States)

4 Stars
July 20, 2009
... that' said, I've only experienced 4 and 1/10 of them. I enjoyed the story, even though some parts weren't really believable, like the Disneyeque baby deer named Flicka. The descriptions in any Nevada Barr book might be overdone, but they are beautiful if heard aloud. If you like the series but are tired of plodding through the prose, grab a copy of the audio cd's from a library. They're excellent. I really thought there'd be more about the baby sea turtles, but they were very much overshadowed by all the other events. It's a predictable, yet enjoyable story. Anna, flaws and all, is a likable character.

Hard to put down by Nancy J. Richmond (Shipshewana, IN United States)

5 Stars
May 08, 2009
I always enjoy Nevada Barr's books and this one did not disappoint. I was fully involved in the story and while her main character Anna Pigeon, prefers her life in the parks to a full time relationship with someone, there is just enough personal story to make her human. There is suspense and tension throughout and while I suspected who the killer was, I was content to let the author lead me to the conclusion.

great story, but not a great reader by L. Bundy (Alabama)

2 Stars
December 03, 2008
I'm a fan of Nevada Barr and enjoyed the plot of this book, but Cindy Williams makes this one hard to listen too. She reads like she is racing to the end in a performance with all the passion and variety of a lump of coal. Buy the book; it is an engaging story. But wait for an unabridged audio version read by Barbara Rosenblat.

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries) by Nevada Barr (Author) There is peril beneath the watchful eyes of the Lady... When Anna Pigeon left New York City after her husband was killed, she hoped it would be forever. But now her sister Molly is clinging to life in an uptown hospital ICU, so Anna has reluctantly returned. Rooming with a friend and fellow park ranger in close quarters on Liberty Island---the small strip of land that is home to Lady Liberty---Anna spends her free time exploring the grand monument and the crumbling, overgrown, and eerie...
	Firestorm (An Anna Pigeon Novel) by Nevada Barr (Author) A raging forest fire in California's Lassen Volcanic National Park traps exhausted firefighters, including Ranger Anna Pigeon, in its midst. Afterward, Anna finds two from her group have been killed. One a victim of the flames. The other, stabbed through the heart. Now, as a rampaging winter storm descends, cutting the survivors off from civilization, Anna must uncover the murderer in their midst.
	Blind Descent (An Anna Pigeon Novel) by Nevada Barr (Author) Park ranger Anna Pigeon is enjoying the open spaces of Colorado when she receives an urgent call. A young woman has been injured while exploring a cave in New Mexico's Carlsbad Cavern Park. Before she can be pulled to safety, she sends for her friend Anna. Only one problem: a crushing fear of confined spaces has kept Anna out in the open her whole life.
	Ill Wind (An Anna Pigeon Novel) by Nevada Barr (Author) The third Anna Pigeon mystery is a charm. Lately, visitors to Mesa Verde have been bringing home more than photos--they're also carrying a strange, deadly disease. And once it strikes, park ranger Anna Pigeon must find the very human source of the evil wind.
	Deep South (An Anna Pigeon Novel) by Nevada Barr (Author) Park Ranger Anna Pigeon stumbles upon a gruesome murder with frightening racial overtones in the latest installment of the bestselling series. "What lifts the Anna Pigeon novels far above most of the other contemporary amateur sleuth mysteries is Barr's exquisite writing--it swoops, it soars, sails then catches you unawares beneath the heart and takes your breath away," proclaimed the Cleveland Plain Dealer of last year's Liberty Falling. In Deep South, Nevada Barr takes our breath away...